The Neely Team

The crew starting out to pick the corn: Mom, Lauren, Herman, Bethany, and Hannah

$5.00 to the first person to find Lauren…            Never mind – we found her.

More busy members of the picking team!

Bringing in the bounty: 23 dozen ears of corn and… well, we didn’t even TRY to count the tomatoes!

“Peter Dutchy” is in sad shape, but he and “Bobby Lee” faithfully kept the crows where they belonged!

We shucked it all in the garage.

Duke enjoyed the cool, concrete garage          Herman was the much-needed 

         floor while WE were working.                            cleanup man!     

Jessi and Kathryn blanched it all, and then it was stacked to drain before the creaming part of the process.

  “In all labour there is profit…”  Prov. 14:23

Bethany enjoys the fruit of her labors

Hooray!! Twenty-six more quarts in the freezer!

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich…” Prov. 10:22

A few nights ago, around the dinner table, Daddy told us a story that, without God’s mercy and protection, would have been fatal. We all listened with dropped jaws and shocked expressions as he told us the details.

A man was driving a small pick-up truck on his way back to work after being on a sales call. Suddenly, he noticed smoke coming out from under the hood, and pulled off the road. As he climbed out of the truck, he realized that the vehicle was on fire, so he quickly found a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the flames. The fire extinguisher did little to stop the fire, however, and, realizing that the truck could explode, he got as far away from it as he could. The truck continued to burn, and even tried to start up somehow. He watched in shock as the fire burned everything off of the truck, including the tires, leaving only the metal frame as evidence of the truck’s existence. 

The man in this story is a man by the name of Rick, a designer at Andrews Truss (where Daddy works) and a personal friend of our family. He was on his way back to the office on Tuesday, August 11th when this incident occurred which startled all of us with it’s reality and the brevity of life. We marvel at God’s goodness and compassion.

As I was pondering the situation, I realized that there are several lessons we could learn from this.

• Occurrences like these remind us of just how short our life is and how quickly it can be changed. We never know what the next minute of our life will bring. Proverbs 27:1 – “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
• They also remind us of our need for complete and total dependence on God in every area of life. Had Mr. Rick delayed in getting out of the truck, he probably wouldn’t have lived. But because of God’s mercy and grace, he survived without a scrape. Lamentations 3:22 – “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
• You could also say that our lives are like this truck: here one moment, gone the next. James 4:14 – “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
• Sin is a lot like fire. It is deadly, spreads easily, is hard to stop, and leaves it’s scars. Proverbs 6:27-28 – “Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”
• Our thoughts are also a lot like fire. The longer we tolerate sinful thoughts, the farther they spread, the harder they are to stop, the more damage they do, and the more obvious and disastrous the consequences are. The thoughts we entertain will form our desires; the desires will shape our actions; the actions will become our habits; the habits will develop our character; and our character will determine our destiny. We have a choice to think on good or evil, and all that we do begins in our thought processes. Guard your mind. Philippians 4:13 – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

We are rejoicing and praising God for His unfailing love and grace, and for His ever-abiding mercy and protection over us. Take time to thank Him for the circumstances He puts in our lives to draw us closer to Him, and praise Him for the incredible ways in which He works in and through our lives!

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to celebrate a very special day in the history of our family. Ten years ago, after a three-year gap between siblings, we were overjoyed to find out that God was blessing us with a new life to love, cherish, and invest in. On August 9, 1999, Susanna Joy entered the Neely Team, bringing with her buckets of cheerfulness and loads of happiness!  As her nickname implies, “Sunny” adds much joy to our home through her loving daily care of the little ones and her cheerfulness in the many family projects we do together.

Susanna, it has been a wonderful blessing to watch you grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. May you continue to let your light shine before all, that your Heavenly Father may receive the glory due His name! Happy Birthday!

You, my sister, are sweet and fair,

With bright blue eyes and golden hair.

Your lovely smile, much like the sun,

Cheers all around you ‘till the day is done.

You, sweet fair maiden to whom I speak,

Jump up to help when there’s a need.

Love the LORD with all your heart

And always strive to do your part.

You’re growing up so fast, you see,

And all the years, how quick they flee!

But oh, so soon, I’ll see you there

At the altar, kneeling in prayer.

Our own dear father by your side,

Giving you away – a lovely bride!

So keep your heart, oh sister dear

For that special, glorious year;

When you join yourself – heart and hand

To that one blessed, special man.

Guard your heart – don’t give it away!

Save it for that joyful day.

You’re making a path for many souls

So follow Christ, keep your eyes on the goal!

I love you more than I can tell –

Oh follow these words, and hearken well!

Written by Kathryn M. Neely (14)

For Susanna J. Neely on her 9th birthday

August 9, 2008  

were nearly two hundred people there; somewhere around thirty-five families gathered together to encourage each other to continue to “fight the good fight  of faith”  and to be a light for Jesus Christ in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. It was an amazing time of encouragement, inspiration, blessing, and challenge as we fellowshipped with one another, prayed together, sat under the teaching of godly men, and sought the Lord’s will as individual families. The schedule went somewhat as follows:

We arrived back at the Wilkes’ on Thursday afternoon, so we were able to help wrap up some of the things that still needed to be done. We had a lot of fun along the way, too! Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” We certainly saw that to be true once again as we worked together as members of the family of God! That evening, we went to the school where the conference was to be held, and got things ready there: setting up chairs and tables, working on the sound system, preparing the registration table, and “scoping out” other things for consideration.

On Friday, we started the day with a Wisdom Search together – what a blessed time of meditation on the Word and sharing with brothers and sisters in Christ! We then hit the ground running with the remaining preparation, and it was a joy to see the spirit of cooperation and teamwork in every person!  Finally, at noon, the last dish was finished, the final water balloons were filled, the obstacle course was set up, and the grill was going for the cookout: now things REALLY got started. Over one hundred people attended the cookout at the Wilkes’ home, and it was a great kick-off to the rest of the weekend!

Immediately following lunch, everyone went outside and was assigned to different teams for the family-building obstacle course. Each team was composed of several families, and each father explained the directions and led his family through the beginning of the course. Laughter was prevalent as we followed our fathers blindfolded through a rocky path, played a mini croquet game while holding a cup of water in our hand, carried a cup of popcorn on our feet (and then dumped it, hands-free, into a bucket), tried to catch water balloons, and accomplished various other tasks.

That evening, everyone went over to the school and heard the first few of a chain of inspiring, convicting, and life-changing sessions. Our attention was brought to important truths dealing with why there is still hope for a Godly family, the heart of fatherhood, and how to protect your family in the area of medicine. After that and a brief clean-up, the Wilkes, Staddon, and Neely Teams headed back to the Wilkes’ house for a few more hours of fellowship before it was decided (by the adults at least ) to “hit the hay.”

Saturday opened with another Wisdom Search with all three families; this time focusing on Proverbs 8. By the time we all loaded up, headed for the school again, we had been both spiritually and physically nourished (thanks to the great cooking of Daniel and other members of the Wilkes Team ) and now possessed the stamina needed for an unbelievable day. During the bloc of time before lunch, we heard meaningful lessons on courtship, marriage oneness, and family harmony. While the mothers prepared lunch and the fathers met for a time of prayer, all of the young people entered wholeheartedly into Discipleship Soccer and Canadian Dodge Ball.   What an encouragement to see the older ones taking the time and energy required to invest into the lives of the younger children! We came in worn out and very warm, but filled with joy and ready to do full justice to the wonderful meal! During the rest of the afternoon, we saw an amazing chalk drawing, gave praise to the Lord through song, and heard more encouraging testimonies on the impact of older siblings on the family, harmony in relationships, and the blessings that come when we die to self and operate under authority. At the end of the day, those staying with the Wilkes were to be found playing volley ball, discussing how the Lord had worked, eating, and doing anything else the combined brains of 33 people could come up with! A special memory of the  evening was when each father prayed a blessing over the 27 young people present. What a treasure to see the hearts and desires of our leaders portrayed as they prayed over us and laid vision for the future!

Saturday night, a few of the more adventurous ones stayed up until after 2:30 a.m. working on… can you guess?? Answer: THIS BLOG!! Anyway, somehow we all got enough rest in the remaining 4 hours of the night to sustain the activities of the next day – Sunday. Again at the school for the morning worship service, we were challenged by a message from the life of Joseph. Though this day marked the end of our journey, and shortly afterward we were on our way home, we carried with us new inspiration and excitement for how the Lord wants to use our family for His divine purposes. Though the hard part of what we heard and learned was still to come – the APPLICATION of it all – God is faithful and we can accomplish anything through His power alone. We praise God for all that He taught us throughout the week, and we look forward to seeing how He will use what we heard in our lives in the coming days.

To God be the glory – GREAT things HE hath done!

We took a day to go to the zoo on Wednesday of last week. This is a resulting interview between Amanda and Susanna, Lauren, Herman and Bethany:

Amanda: What was your favorite part of the zoo?

Susanna:  I liked the bobcats!

A: What did you learn about the bobcats?

S: The mother is lighter-colored than the kittens, and when the kittens are first born, they’re black. They like to sleep high off the ground, and they like to play and wrestle with each other.

A: It sounds like they have fun being together as a family! Lauren, what was your favorite animal?

Lauren: I liked to see all the snakes!

A: Really? I liked the snakes, too! What did you think was so interesting about them?

L: They can shed their skin!

A: That IS neat. How do they do that?

L: They just basically crawl backwards and the skin turns wrong-side out as it comes off of them.

A: God sure designed the snake in an amazing way! Herman, what did you like about the zoo?

Herman:  The elk!

A: Oh yes, that WAS neat! What does the elk like to eat?

H: They like to eat leaves off of trees and grass, and his favorite fruit is pears.

A: They were about to feed him some pears when we got there, weren’t they?  What else did you like about seeing the elk?

H: We saw him wake up from a nap and scratch his back with his antlers.

A: He had big antlers, and he was only six or seven years old! Belle, what did you like about the zoo?

Bethany: The pink things and the prairie dogs!

A: You liked the rosate spoonbills. They were pretty interesting! What did you like about them?

B: They drink and eat out of the river!

A: Yes, they eat small fish and crustaceans. They use their bills to sift the food out of the water. Their food is what makes them pink, but they don’t have any feathers on their heads, so they’re bald! And what did you like about the prairie dogs?

B: They dug lots of holes and made piles of dirt!

A: What else did you see?

B: They were eating!

A: It was fun to watch them eat! And something that I liked to see was that they showed attentiveness to their leader. When the leader made a certain noise, they all stopped what they were doing, ran over to their tunnels, and got ready to hide if the leader told them to. That was also showing obedience!

Thank you for sharing, Susanna, Lauren, Herman, and Bethany! I hope we all learn lessons from the animals that God has placed around us!